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The In’s and Out’s of Popped Splints

My young two year old warmblood has very small splints on both front legs. There is one on each leg up front. I am wondering if those splints will grow over time when he is being jumped and worked on the flat. If so how do I help them heal or take care of them now? OR, Indiana

Dear OR,

First of all, let’s make sure everyone is on the same page with us. The splint bones are the small bones on the inside (medial) and outside (lateral) of the cannon bone. In the front legs, the inside splint bone is called the second metacarpal and the outside splint bone is called the fourth metacarpal. In the hind legs, the term metaTARSAL is used. The cannon bone itself is the third metacarpal/metatarsal. The splint bones begin just below the knee, where they are largest, and extend almost to the ankle or fetlock, where they taper to a “button.” Splints are believed to be the remnants of second and fourth toes, but now have only a supportive function.

When a horse “pops a splint,” it means something has caused pain, heat and swelling in the area of the splint bone. Splints can be caused by direct trauma, overtraining, conformation or shoeing that leads to interference; being overweight; or even being malnourished. The swelling can be inflammation of the ligament between the splint and the cannon bone, inflammation of the outer layer of the splint bone itself, or both. Some horses become lame but many do not. A popped splint can be the size of the end of your thumb, or more than twice that large. Generalized swelling may indicate a more severe problem than a popped splint, such as a fractured splint bone, and a veterinarian should be contacted for an accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment. Splints usually occur in the front, usually on the inside, and usually in young horses. And usually, they go away on their own with minimal help from us: cold therapy, bandaging (with or without sweating), anti-inflammatory medications, supplements that support normal healing, and rest. However, you are right to be concerned about future complications because some splints do recur, making training and competing very frustrating for owners.

Dr. Larry Bramlage, a prominent veterinary surgeon at Rood & Riddle Equine Clinic in Lexington, KY, and past president of the American Association of Equine Practitioners, tried a new approach on splints that kept recurring once the horse was put back into work. His team found that if the splint “pops” in the bottom two-thirds of the bone, there may be too much movement for the splint to heal normally, that is, by laying new bone between it and the cannon bone. Instead, in some situations, the best results may be obtained by surgically removing the bottom of the splint bone (when a splint bone fracture occurs in the bottom two-thirds of the bone, it is also surgically removed.)

Now, I’m not telling you this is what needs to be done in your horse. This is a last-resort method to allow a horse to continue training and competing pain-free. You should follow your veterinarian’s advice for the splint your horse has, and take as much time as he needs now, at two years of age, for it to heal completely before going back to any work (lunging, backing, ponying, etc.) I would like to share something my local veterinarian told me about healing splints though: do what the Amish do and roll a corn cob (minus corn kernels) over the splint for 10 minutes twice a day to stimulate healing!

Lydia F. Gray, DVM, MA
SmartPak Staff Veterinarian and Medical Director
Dr. Lydia Gray has earned a Bachelor of Science in agriculture, a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM), and a Master of Arts focusing on interpersonal and organizational communication. After “retiring” from private practice, she put her experience and education to work as the American Association of Equine Practitioner’s first-ever Director of Owner Education. Dr. Gray continues to provide health and nutrition information to horse owners through her position at SmartPak, through publication in more than a dozen general and trade publications, and through presentations around the country.
She is the very proud owner of a Trakehner named Newman that she actively competes with in dressage and combined driving. In addition to memberships in the USDF and USEF, Dr. Gray is also a member of the Illinois Dressage and Combined Training Association (IDCTA). She is a USDF “L” Program Graduate and is currently working on her Bronze Medal.
Find Dr. Gray on Google+

10 comments on “The In’s and Out’s of Popped Splints”

I really enjoyed this article. When I first got my now 22 year old gelding Chandler about 3 years ago, I came out to the barn one day to find that he had some swelling on the inside of his right front cannon bone. Just swelling-no lameness or anything so I wasn’t too concerned. The vet was coming out in a week for shots anyways so I asked her to take a look at it. To my utter surprise she said she wanted to x-ray him because she thought he fractured the splint bone. Now as an owner I positively shocked since he was showing no signs of pain, only a little swelling! Turns out he had fractured it, and my vet said that since there was no bone chip he would not need surgery thankfully. One week of bute/cold hosing/ and wrapping (all your standards) and the swelling was gone! I had been told that if he would be quiet he could go out in a small turnout, but at 19 he still felt pretty good, and after 2 weeks of stall rest he wasn’t going to be turned out quietly, so 2 months of stall rest and I could start light riding again (thankfully it was winter time in MA and I was without an indoor at the time). To this day he still feels like he’s 12 years old, and is in the best shape I have ever seen him in! You would never know that 3 years ago he had a fractured splint, unless you feel down the inside of the cannon bone, there is a small ossification where the fracture was, other than that-nothing! Even after he does a jumping lesson, (only x-rails to maybe 2 footers) he is totally sound! I attribute it to the quick reaction of my vet, and the Smartflex III I have had him on since I got him!

Thanks for the kind words! Because every situation is different, the veterinarian that is working with you to diagnose and treat the condition is the best person to answer your question about continuing to work your horse through a splint. Sometimes the answer is yes, sometimes the answer is no, and your veterinarian can provide the best advice for your individual horse. Best of luck! – Dr. Lydia Gray

Hi there,
Just a quick ?, My 6 yr old popped a small splint about 4 months ago no lameness at all just a little tender, I ceased work with him and gave him some time of iced it hosed just to be on the safe side. Anyways I started working him again and noticed about 3 weeks
later that the splint had increased in size alittle, no soreness or lameness, so more time of, comfrey poultice, iced it and hosed.it. It now has decreased in size not sore had extra topping put on my arena due to it being alittle hard, my question is should I start working him lightly or give more time off. Cheers. Sory for the saga! It was meant to be a quick? Lol.

I have a question for everyone, I have a two year old that it appeared she had a splint on her front leg. But, what through us all off was its on the outside of the leg no the inside, there was no lameness, not heat either just a good size bump on her leg. Having her stall bound thinking it was a splint that went down tremendously. The other leg is starting to get the same bump and the same area.
Any ideas?

We have a pony at our yard who was kicked and has fractured a splint bone on her rear leg close to the hock. She has been resting for a year now the swelling has subsided slightly and dropped a little. We have had her on many bone supplements. This past week we wanted to train her a bit and see what would happen(only in an active walk) there was no lameness for 2 days but on the third day she could barely walk again. Does anybody have suggestions on how to deal with this?

My horse bumped his hind leg at a show when he was 4. Had a small cut that was sutured. Did develop a splint over time but it has not caused any issue. I have noticed it has gotten larger over time but it this horse has a tendency to over calcify things. I had another horse that got a huge splint. Had 2 months off and never was quite sound. Turned out it was irritating the tendon. Had the lower part of his splint bone removed and did fine.

Hi everyone, my pony popped a splint last year and is like a 3rd knee it sits just below his knee, is quite large but causes him no harm. He was lame at the time so I gave him plenty of time off before it popped up. Afterwards he was completely back to normal and sound. I went out to see him this morning and to my surprise another splint. This time on the other leg and only 1/3 of the size. He is not lame, swollen, sore or heated he just has a bump. This worries me as hes only had a handful of rides these past couple weeks and it popped up overnight after we’ve been in Auckland all week. I’m very worried and don’t know what to do. He does get icebooted after harder rides and the farrier claims he is fine. Ive been reading online and one website says he may have athritis. If you know anything please reply below your opinions

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